Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

#### Summary points Scoliosis is a three dimensional deformity of the spine defined as a lateral curvature of the spine in the coronal plane of more than 10°.1 It can be categorised into three major types—congenital, syndromic, and idiopathic. Congenital scoliosis refers to spinal deformity caused by abnormally formed vertebrae. Syndromic scoliosis is associated with a disorder of the neuromuscular, skeletal, or connective tissue systems; neurofibromatosis; or other important medical condition. Idiopathic scoliosis has no known cause and can be subdivided based on the age of onset—infantile idiopathic scoliosis includes patients aged 0-3 years, juvenile idiopathic scoliosis includes patients aged 4-10 years, and adolescent idiopathic scoliosis affects people aged >10 years. Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is the most common spinal deformity seen by primary care physicians, paediatricians, and spinal surgeons.2 This review is focused on AIS and reviews the diagnosis, management, and controversies surrounding this condition based on the available literature. #### Sources and selection criteria We searched Medline and the Cochrane Library using MeSH terms “adolescent idiopathic scoliosis”, and “scoliosis bracing”. We included systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials, and good quality prospective observational studies mainly from the past 15 years but did not …